Fake identical worlds
It's always intriguing to see what episodes have a fake world twist and what people who need to get out of the fake world. It's always a surprise to the viewers, though the reveal often changes points in time and which side is making the fake world depending on the story. Not all fake identical world plots are the same. Sometimes, escaping the fake world is just one part of the story and isn't the whole story. The methods of making a fake world can range from the complexity of a computer-generated simulation of an entire universe or dream machine traps to the simplicity of painted cardboard cutouts and inflatable lifelike duplicates of one single setting as a sense of misdirection.
In most cases, the protagonist has to escape the fake identical world or setting they find themselves in. In the worst-case scenarios, the protagonist has spent their whole life growing up in a fake world that isn't identical to anything, and they don't know that it's fake! I could be writing this list and you could be reading it in a fake identical world right now! Spoilers ahead! I found all of these under, or added them to the keywords of "duplicate" or "simulation". The spoilers are...I can not spoil the source of the fake identical world because just displaying the title on this list lets you know it has it, and the plot description may already tell you too much.
Trope sources: False Utopia, Lotus-Eater Machine, Virtual Reality Interrogation, World of Cardboard Speech
In most cases, the protagonist has to escape the fake identical world or setting they find themselves in. In the worst-case scenarios, the protagonist has spent their whole life growing up in a fake world that isn't identical to anything, and they don't know that it's fake! I could be writing this list and you could be reading it in a fake identical world right now! Spoilers ahead! I found all of these under, or added them to the keywords of "duplicate" or "simulation". The spoilers are...I can not spoil the source of the fake identical world because just displaying the title on this list lets you know it has it, and the plot description may already tell you too much.
Trope sources: False Utopia, Lotus-Eater Machine, Virtual Reality Interrogation, World of Cardboard Speech
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- DirectorTed PostStarsHoward DuffDavid WhiteFrank MaxwellA businessman sitting in his office inexplicably finds that he is on a production set and in a world where he is a movie star. Uninterested in the newfound fame, he fights to get back to his home and family.Trapped: Howard Duff as Arthur Curtis
- DirectorDon ChaffeyStarsPatrick McGoohanLeo McKernNadia GrayA new Number Eight named Nadia arrives in the Village, and together she and Number Six plot their escape.Trapped: Patrick McGoohan as Number 6
- DirectorPat JacksonStarsPatrick McGoohanKatherine KathSheila AllenNumber Two believes that Number Six resigned because he was going to sell out. Using dream manipulation, Number Two tries to determine which one of three possible candidates Number Six was dealing with.Trapped: Patrick McGoohan as Number 6
- DirectorJud TaylorStarsWilliam ShatnerLeonard NimoyDeForest KelleyKirk beams down to the planet Gideon and appears to find himself trapped on a deserted Enterprise. Spock on the real Enterprise must use his diplomatic skills to deal with the uncooperative inhabitants of Gideon and find the Captain.Trapped: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk
- DirectorChristian I. Nyby IIStarsShaun CassidyParker StevensonEd GilbertJoe is in Hong Kong with Frank and his father to help a friend of his father with a man's defection. Joe's in an accident and when he wakes up he is told that he's been in a coma for a year. He is then approached by a government agent who tells him that Frank and his father were killed when they tried to bring the defector in, possibly betrayed by his friend. He asks Joe about the details and he tells him. But Joe doesn't know is that he was tricked into revealing where the meeting is.Trapped: Shaun Cassidy as Joe Hardy
- DirectorCliff BoleStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonDr. Crusher's fear of losing loved ones becomes real when her worries create an alternate reality.Trapped: Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher
- 1987–199446mTV-PG7.7 (3.6K)TV EpisodeDirectorLes LandauStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonRiker awakens sixteen years after an away mission where he contracted a disease which destroyed his memory back to the point of infection - or so he's told.Trapped: Johnathan Frakes as William T. Riker
- 1987–199445mTV-PG9.4 (8.3K)TV EpisodeDirectorPeter LauritsonStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonPicard awakes to find himself living in a small village where he is a well-known member of the community who is suffering from a delusion of being a starship captain.Trapped: Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard
- DirectorJanet GreekStarsMichael O'HareClaudia ChristianJerry DoyleSinclair is kidnapped by two men who want to know what happened to him when he disappeared in the final battle of the Earth-Minbari War, something that even Sinclair does not know.Trapped: Michael O'Hare as Jeffrey Sinclair
- DirectorBrett LeonardStarsDenzel WashingtonRussell CroweKelly LynchWhen a virtual reality simulation created using the personalities of multiple serial killers manages to escape into the real world, an ex-cop is tasked with stopping its reign of terror.Trapped: Russell Crowe as 6.7
- DirectorDavid J. EagleStarsBruce BoxleitnerClaudia ChristianJerry DoyleGaribaldi, now freed of Bester's influence, tries to find allies to free Sheridan. But no one trusts him, not even those who used to call him friend. Now Garbaldi, Franklin, and Lyta try to free Sheridan. Meanwhile Ivanova and Marcus find out Clark has new more powerful ships. They take a contingent of White stars to destroy the new ships, someone will pay a high price for the victory.Trapped: Bruce Boxleitner as John Sheridan
- DirectorMichael DornStarsAvery BrooksRene AuberjonoisMichael DornDr. Bashir's plans to attend a medical conference at a breezy resort are canceled when Starfleet Intelligence boards DS9, suspecting the doctor of treason.Trapped: Alexander Siddig as Doctor Bashir
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsJim CarreyEd HarrisLaura LinneyAn insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.Trapped: Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.Trapped: Keanu Reeves as Neo
- DirectorSteve LoterStarsCorey BurtonStephen FurstWayne KnightWhen Buzz travels into a Black Hole, Zurg uses it to trick him into thinking he is in the future and collect all of his secrets in his latest attempt to destroy Star Command.Trapped: Patrick Warburton as Buzz Lightyear
- DirectorSavage Steve HollandStarsPamela AndersonMolly CulverShaun BakerVIP was hired to protect teacher Jane Percival until her testimony, which should put mob killer William Sikes away for good. His team captures Val and Tasha, but instead of classical torture and truth serum make them believe to have aged decades to make them betray the witness's hide-out. Sikes gets so impatience he even kills one of his own scientists. The rest of VIP tries the mob connection.Trapped: Pamela Anderson as Vallery Irons and Molly Culver as Tasha Dexter
- 2001–200625mTV-Y78.2 (188)TV EpisodeDirectorSteve ResselStarsRichard Steven HorvitzRikki SimonsAndy BermanDib is given powers beyond human comprehension, and Zim tries to discover who threw a muffin at his head.(segment: Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom)
Trapped: Andy Berman as Dib - DirectorGeorge MihalkaAdam WeissmanStarsMatthew EwaldMarie-Marguerite SabonguiSam MagdiTrapped: Marie-Marguerite Sabongui as Allegra Zane
Note: The two-part Season 1 finale following this, The Room With No View and The Road To Kek does not have an imdb page. - DirectorMatt MaiellaroDave WillisStarsDana SnyderCarey MeansDave WillisMeatwad is expecting the arrival of his new pet, a bunny. A snake arrives instead, and Master Shake is suspiciously unsurprised. Shake encourages Meatwad to dress the snake up like a bunny. The snake eats Meatwad. Master Shake suggests that they allow the snake to digest his meal. Frylock prepares to blast the snake with his lasers to save Meatwad. Meatwad calls out from inside the snake, asking Frylock to spare the animal. Meatwad then claims that the snake, whom he has named Nathan Scott Phillips, is his best friend.Trapped: Carey Means as Frylock
- DirectorGraham RalphStarsJuliet CowanAlan MarriottGary MartinCassie and Bounty Hamster are arrested for their crimes.Trapped: Alan Mariott as Marion and Juliet Cowan as Cassie
- DirectorMichael VejarStarsScott BakulaJohn BillingsleyJolene BlalockArcher and the Xindi Degra are in a shuttle. With Degra suffering from memory loss, Archer tells him they escaped together from a prison and that the Insectoids took power after destroying Earth.Trapped: Randy Oglesby as Degra
- 2002–200822mTV-Y78.5 (90)TV EpisodeStarsDee Bradley BakerJeff BennettBen DiskinIn "Operation: U.T.O.P.I.A. (Uncovering The Only Perfect Island Accidentally)", Numbuh 1 crash lands onto an island paradise where kids have the freedom to do whatever they want, whenever they want. He is excited at first, but is this place too good to be true? In "Operation: R.O.B.B.E.R.S. (Rather Ornery Bandits Burglarize Educationally Required Schoolwork)", the Six Gum Gang stage a holdup on the school bus and steal everyone's homework. But Numbuh 4, who has actually done his homework this time because he wants to impress the new teacher, is not about to let them get away with that!(segment: U.T.O.P.I.A.)
Trapped: Ben Diskin as Numbuh 1, later Tom Kenny as Chester - DirectorT.J. HouseStarsBrad AdamsonJerome BentonWalter BordenThe Boom Crew becomes the Scream Team when they inexplicably encounter a friend from Earth on a creepy new planet.Trapped: Jordan Francis as Justin, Jascha Washington as Nate, Melanie Tonello as Rickie, Mitchell Eisner as Jubei
Note: would have aired on October 25, 2004 if Da Boom Crew wasn't canned 4 episodes in - DirectorScooter TidwellStarsTara StrongMeagan MoorePaul EidingBen finds himself having a seemingly perfect day only to discover that it's a plot concocted by Enoch in an effort to retrieve the Omnitrix.Trapped: Tara Strong as Ben 10, later Richard Doyle as Enoch
- DirectorCraig McCrackenRob RenzettiStarsSean MarquetteGrey GriffinKeith FergusonA toy box appears at the front door of Foster's and Frankie is ordered to take it to the attic. When she looks inside the box, she gets sent to a strange world which has an imaginary friend that does whatever she wants. Frankie decides to stay because she never gets any appreciation for all her hard work. Bloo, Mac, Wilt, Eduardo, and Coco set out to rescue her.Trapped: Sean Marquette as Mac, Keith Ferguson as Bloo, Candi Milo as Coco, Phil LaMarr as Wilt, Tom Kenny as Eduardo
- 2001–201745mNot Rated7.2 (139)TV EpisodeDirectorButch HartmanStarsTara StrongSusanne BlakesleeDaran NorrisTimmy Turner is an average kid - sort of. He's an only child with oblivious parents. But luckily he has Cosmo and Wanda, his wacky fairy godparents who help him hide from evil babysitters, do homework and much more craziness!Trapped: Tara Strong as Timmy Turner
- DirectorNicholas FilippiBret HaalandDavid KnottStarsJeff BennettJohn DiMaggioDanny JacobsThe penguins must stop a contractor from completing repairs on their habitat before he destroys the world! Two thieves stash a very expensive diamond necklace at the zoo.(segment: Work Order)
Trapped: Danny Jacobs as Julien, Kevin Michael Richardson as Maurice, Andy Richter as Mort, Nicole Sullivan as Marlene, Fred Tatasciore as Gus - StarsBen JonesKyle KaplanJohn DiMaggioThe team wakes up to discover a problem: Everything in Fauxboro seems different.Trapped: Ben Jones as Alfe and Roba, Kyle Kaplan as Horace
- DirectorBrian IlesJames PurdumStarsSeth MacFarlaneAlex BorsteinSeth GreenAfter a car accident, Peter, Brian, Joe, and Quagmire wake up in a hospital with no memory and discover that they're the last people left on Earth.Trapped: Seth Macfarlane as Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin and Shirtpants, Patrick Warburton as Manly Walker
- DirectorTakashi KawabataYukihiro MiyamotoAkiyuki ShinbôStarsAoi YûkiChiwa SaitôEri KitamuraMadoka Kaname used to be a normal girl living happy days of her life. This all ended when she sacrificed herself in order to save other magical girls from the utterly cruel fate that awaited them. Unable to let her memories of Madoka die, Homura Akemi continues to fight alone in the world that Madoka left behind for humanity in order to see her smile once more.Trapped: Cristina Valenzuela as Homura Akemi
- DirectorMatt MaiellaroDave WillisStarsDave WillisMatt MaiellaroAndy MerrillThe Plutonians are sent on a deadly mission by their new masters, the Mooninites.Trapped: Andy Merrill as Oglethorope, Mike Schatz as Emory
Note: I am not sure if this episode counts, but I included it anyway. This is because - while Oglethorpe and Emory do not go to a fake identical world, they do still go into a fake identical ship. Err and Ignignokt either lied to Oglethorpe and Emory, or they got the names mixed up when they said that the safe ship was the Don Jon Ronald, and the meat-eating ship was the Jon Ron Donald. You have to pay very close attention to see what is going on. Oglethorpe and Emory went inside the Don Jon Ronald, the safe ship, and when Emory played the jukebox music, it woke up the OTHER ship with the fangs, the Jon Ron Donald, yet the dead monkeys they were searching for were in the Don Jon Ronald with them. When Oglethorpe's father calls him, he says that they meat-eating ship is really a food truck for Planet of the Apes. However, once they open the space anus, and they end up in the Johnson of the other ship, the Jon Ron Donald, the Don Jon Ronald without the fangs is on top, which makes it seem like they were in the meat-eating ship all along. However, they should still try to exit from the other ship's anus if they can get there. - DirectorJeff MyersPete MichelsStarsJustin RoilandChris ParnellSpencer GrammerRick and Morty try to get to the bottom of a mystery.Trapped: Justin Roiland as Rick Sanchez, Chris Parnell as Jerry Smith
- DirectorJansen YeeRon HughartBrent WoodsStarsSeth MacFarlaneWendy SchaalScott GrimesStan drugs Steve and his friends and puts them in the CIA holodeck just to give them the outdoor experience, while Hayley makes herself Roger's queen after buying his home star on the International Star Registry.Trapped: Scott Grimes as Steve Smith, Curtis Armstrong as Snot, Daisuke Suzuki as Toshi, Eddie Kaye Thomas as Barry, later Seth MacFarlane as Stan Smith
- DirectorIan Jones-QuarteyStarsZach CallisonEstelleMichaela DietzSteven goes by himself to a new room in the Temple that answers his every wish, but the results become lackluster.Trapped: Zach Callison as Steven Universe
- DirectorCarl TibbettsStarsJon HammRafe SpallOona ChaplinThree interconnected tales of technology run amok during the Christmas season are told by two men at a remote outpost in a frozen wilderness.Trapped: Rasmus Hardiker as Harry
- DirectorRobert SchwentkeStarsShailene WoodleyAnsel ElgortTheo JamesBeatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart with the help from others on her side.Trapped: Shailene Woodley as Beatrice Prior
- CreatorMichael SchurStarsKristen BellWilliam Jackson HarperJameela JamilFour people and their otherworldly frienemy struggle in the afterlife to define what it means to be good.Trapped: Kristen Bell as Eleanor Shellstrop, William Jackson Harper as Chidi Anagonye, Jameela Jamil as Tahani Al-Jamil, Manny Jacinto as Jason Mendoza
- 2016–202322mTV-Y73.3 (62)TV EpisodeDirectorKelly ArmstrongBob BoyleNick JenningsStarsAmanda LeightonNatalie PalamidesKristen LiSomewhere Over the Swingset: When the girls disobey the Professor and swing all the way over the swingset, they must deal with unexpected consequences. / People Pleaser: Blossom neglects her promise to Bubbles when she takes on too many things leaving Buttercup and Bubbles to fend for themselves.Trapped: Amanda Leighton as Blossom, Kristen Li as Bubbles, Natalie Palamides as Buttercup
- DirectorMichael SchurStarsKristen BellWilliam Jackson HarperJameela JamilShawn has decided that Fake Eleanor, Chidi, Jason and Tahani must decide among themselves in thirty minutes which two of them should go to The Bad Place. Chaos and confusion ensues.Trapped: Kristen Bell as Eleanor Shellstrop, William Jackson Harper as Chidi Anagonye, Jameela Jamil as Tahani Al-Jamil, Manny Jacinto as Jason Mendoza
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTye SheridanOlivia CookeBen MendelsohnWhen the creator of a virtual reality called the OASIS dies, he makes a posthumous challenge to all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune and control of his world.Trapped: Ben Mendelsohn as Sorrento
- DirectorJon WattsStarsTom HollandSamuel L. JacksonJake GyllenhaalFollowing the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man must step up to take on new threats in a world that has changed forever.Trapped: Tom Holland as Spider-Man
- DirectorBeth McCarthy-MillerStarsKristen BellWilliam Jackson HarperJameela JamilOn the last day of the experiment, Chidi is faced with one final ethical dilemma.Trapped: William Jackson Harper as Chidi Anagonye, Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Simone Garnett, Benjamin Koldyke as Brent Norwalk, Brandon Scott Jones as John Wheaton
- CreatorJac SchaefferStarsElizabeth OlsenPaul BettanyKathryn HahnBlends the style of classic sitcoms with the MCU, in which Wanda Maximoff and Vision - two super-powered beings living their ideal suburban lives - begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.Trapped: Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, Evan Peters as Ralph Bohner, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness
- DirectorMatt ShakmanStarsElizabeth OlsenPaul BettanyKathryn HahnMonica plots her return, Wanda navigates unsettling complications, and Vision forms a new alliance.Trapped: Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, Evan Peters as Ralph Bohner, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness
- DirectorShawn LevyStarsRyan ReynoldsJodie ComerTaika WaititiWhen Guy, a bank teller, learns that he is a non-player character in a bloodthirsty, open-world video game, he goes on to become the hero of the story and takes the responsibility of saving the world.Trapped: Ryan Reynolds as Guy